Separator for ore, coal, &amp;c.



No. 629,597. Patented July 25, I899. F. PARDEE. SEPABATOR FOR ORE, COAL. &c.

2 Sheets-Sheet (No Model.)

INVENTOR %cw/ W 2 Shuts-Sheet 2.

F M To F. PABDE-E. SEPARATOR run one, COAL, m.

Patented July .25, I899.-

(Application filed Nov. 18, 18D8.)

(No Model.)

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK IARDEE, OF HAZLETO N, PENNSYLVANIA.

SEPARATOR FOR one, COAL, 80C.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 629,597, dated July 25, 1899. Application filed November 18, 1898. Serial No. 696,767. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK PARDEE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Hazleton, in the county of Luzerne and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Separators for Ore, Goal, 850., of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to machines for separating ore, coal, &c., in which a spiral way is provided for imparting a centrifugal movement to the substances being acted upon. The differences in the specific gravity and frictional resistance of the substances, as well as the nature or kind of provision made in the machine for taking advantage of such characteristics, have much to do in effecting a proper separation.

The machine illustrated by the drawings is more especially'intended for theseparat-ion of coal from slate and bone, the latter being pieces of coal associated with a kind of slate usually in thin layers,'andthe invention will be described in that connection, although it is applicable to the separation of other substances.

When anthracite coal is taken from the mines, it is mixed with more orless rocky substances, usually designated as slate, which contain silica or other gritty matter possessing a peculiar frictional resistance when moving over a solid surface. This resistance is such that during the passage of mixed substances along the spirals of a centrifugal separator the slate and bone will move slower than the pure coal, notwithstanding the difference in velocity due to the difference in the specific gravity of the several substances.

The coal, gliding with more'rapidity and meetin g with less resistance from the surface over which the several substances are made to travel, passes to the outer edge' of the spiral, 'the bone being next in order and the slate nearest the axis of the spiral. substances ,such as coal and slate ,or ore and rock, are passed down or alonga spiral way having a plane flare on a descending axisthat isto say, a floor or way which while having a downward pitch is otherwise on a plane substantially horizontal to the axis or center-they do not separate to any great extent, but will usually be carried by the centrifugal force in a mixed state to the outer edge of the way, along which they continue When mixed until the outlet is reached, and in a machine provided with a spiral way inclined toward the centerand toward the outlet certain forces not always prevented or overcome act to carry some pieces too far outward, and they are liable to pass out of the spiral with those to which they do not belong.

In practice the centrifugal movement,

whichis important as to some substances, be-

comes, under certain conditions, detrimental to the efficient operation of the machine on others. Hence it is desirable'that the centrifugal movement of the substances having greatest frictional resistance-as, for instance, the slate or bone-be retarded in their progress, thereby causing preliminary separation of the materials into streams, with the slate and bone nearer the axis, of the spiral and the coal or other substance to which lessfrictional resistance is offered to pass down the spiral adjacent to and along the boundary thereof.

The object of this invention is to provide means for taking advantage of the centrifugal action on the substances of least frictional resistance and of gravitation as to those having greater frictional resistance.

The invention consists of a separator comprising a spiral wayv and a plate or slide the surface of which presents a frictional resistance which will operate more effectually to overcome the centrifugal impetus of some of the substances passing over the spiral than others, and also in providing such a plate or slide at or near the outlet of the spiral, all as hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out or indicated by the claims- In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation showing a spiral way constructed with a plane flare on a descending axis and provided with plates or slides of greater frictional resistance than other parts of the way. Fig. 2is also an elevation of a machine in which the frictional plate is located at the what manner the spirals are supported. In

each of these figures the spiral is one with a plane flare, and as the pitch is downward the mixed substances run against the outer flange or abutments a and a, the curve of which will guide them during the descent or passage along the spiral. The substances will emerge at the outer corner or edge of the spiral with suflicient impetus to carry them fora distance in the direction of the curve by the centrifugal movement already imparted unless separated by some means previously interposed for the purpose.

In Fig. 1 are shown plates band 0, forming a part of the spiral, though they need-not be integral therewith, for separating the substances i'n transz'tu. These plates are made of some material which ofiers greater resistance than other parts to those substances which are easily affected thereby. Thus if a portion of the floor of the spiral be made of bronze and other portions or plates of iron are interposed the latter will present a resistance power which will break the force of the centrifugal action and cause the substances thereby aflfected to proceed by gravitation in the most direct line, and this will take them to the center. There may be as few or as many of such plates as are found necessary for practical purposes to secure thoroughness of separation, and in'some instances a plate, such as c, at or near the outlet will be sufficient. The retarding-plates by reason of the frictional resistance effect a preliminary separation of the materials and cause the coal, which is least affected thereby, to pass by the force of its centrifugal impetus down the way farthest from the axis of the spiral, while the slate and bone are carried nearer to the axis, andthus separated from the coal, and are in condition in their relation to the coal to be more thoroughly separated by the discharge from the spiral over separating-chutes or over retarding friction plates or slides. So, too, plates, such as 1), (shown in Figs. 2 to 5,) may be placed at the outlet of the spiral, and these plates may or may not be provided with one or more ridges or humps, such as shown at.c or of other forms, for breaking the centrifugal force of the substances having the greatest frictional resistance. The plates or slides, whatever may be their location, should, however, be of such a character as to act difierently on substances having different frictional resistance, so that those the least aflected thereby may be permitted to pass on in the direction of their impetus, while the resistance thus ofiered causes the substances on which it thus acts to take the shortest and easiest course presented for their movement by gravitation. Proper chutes or other means of receiving or conducting the separated substances may be pro Vided in connection with the spirals or with the plates, as desired.

I do not herein claim the features of construction of spiral separators which are made the subject-matter of the application filed by me on May 17, 1898, Serial No. 680,987, nor do I herein claim the features of such a machine which form the subject-matter of the several applications filed by me on November 18, 1898, Serial Nos. 696,761, 696,762, 696,763, 696,764, 696,765, and 696,766, respectivel y, to which reference is hereby made.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A separator for ore, coal, &c., comprising a spiral way constituting a floor down which the material to be separated moves by gravitation, and a plate in the floor of the spiral, the surface of which plate presents a greater retarding frictional resistance to part of the descending material than to the rest, whereby the part of the material to which the least resistance is presented is less retarded and moved farther from the axis of the spiral than that to which greater resistance is offered, and whereby the materials will be discharged from the spiral at points distant from the axis in inverse proportion to the resistance.

2. A separator for ore, coal, &c., comprising a spiral way constituting a floor down which the material to be separated moves by gravitation, a plate in the floor of the spiral, the surface of which plate presents a greater retarding frictional resistance to part of the descendin gmaterial than to the rest, whereby the part of the material to which the least resistance is presented is less retarded and moved farther from the axis of the spiral, and another plate at the discharge end of the spiral onto which the materials are discharged, said plate presenting a greater retarding frictional resistance to part of the discharged material than to the rest, whereby the thoroughness of the separation of the material is insured, substantially as described.

3. A separator for ore, coal, 00., comprising a spiral way constituting a floor disposed on a descending plane horizontal to the axis of the spiral, down which the materials to be separated move by gravitation and are subjected to centrifugal action and movement during their descent, and a plate or slide adjacent to the discharge end of the spiral onto which the materials are discharged, the surface of which plate presents a greater retarding frictional resistance to part of the descending material than to the rest, whereby the part of the material to which the least resistance is presented continues in the course and direction of its centrifugal impetus over the said plate and the material to which the greater resistance is offered is retarded by the con tact with said plate and falls by gravitation therefrom, whereby the materials are separated, substantially as described.

FRANK PARDEE. lVitnesses:

A. M. EBY, GUST. FISCHER. 

